At length so grossly oppressive were their extor- tions that they drew down upon themselves the cen- sures of the English clergy ; and Roger, the then Bishop of London, having in vain admonished them to desist from their oppressions, excommunicated them A. D. 1235.
But through the Pope's protection, and their interest at Eome, they shortly after- wards caused the Bishop to be cited there to answer for his conduct, which induced the suspicion that the Pope was both their accomplice and partner in their spoils.*
' When tte Jews came to understand this Christian mode of preventing usury, says Matthew Paris, they laughed very heartily —{Matt. Paris, 286.)
Milman, in his history of the Jews, calls them " Caorsini" from the town of Cahors in France. Matt. Paris, Hollingshed, and Stow, " Caurdni." Du Cange, " Caorcini," who believes they belonged to an ancient family of that name in Italy. While Malynes, in his Lex Mercatoria, calls them Cursini, and says they were Italian bankers.
» Pestis Ahominanda », dice M. Paris refiriéndose a los caursinos, y nos cuenta que el obispo, que era anciano y enfermizo, pidió consejo a su patrón, Pablo, quien no solo aprobó lo que había hecho, sino que añadió : « Ex si Angelus vohis his contraria prmdicaverit, anathema sit. » — (Matt. Paris, p. 418.)
THE STATUTE OF MERTON. 37 But to return to the Statute of Merton. Sir Edward Coke ^ said, and his exposition is the best, that the usury intended by the statute was not un- lawful, for the usury due before the death of the ancestor is enacted to be paid after the full age of the heir, and no usury was then permitted, but by the Jews only.